One of the questions at last night's "discussion" at Rick Warren's church with the Presidential candidates was extremely telling of two. Barack Obama mentioned that he'd decrease taxes for those that make less than $150,000 and raise taxes (or restore taxes on the rich that Bush cut) for those that make more than $250,000. To me, that sounds pretty on target. A comfortable life can be had for a quarter-million dollars in America, but not for John Sidney McCain.
From The Carpetbagger Report:
“Some of the richest people I’ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich is — should be defined by a home, a good job and education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited. I don’t want to take any money from the rich. I want everybody to get rich. I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth. But I can tell you for example there are small businessmen and women who are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week that some people would classify as, quote, ‘rich,’ my friends, who want to raise their taxes and raise their payroll taxes. Let’s have — keep taxes low. Let’s give every family in America a $7,000 tax credit for every child they have. Let’s give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice. Let’s not have the government take over the health care system in America.
“So I think if you’re just talking about income, how about $5 million. But seriously, I don’t think you can — I don’t think, seriously that — the point is that I’m trying to make here seriously — and I’m sure that comment will be distorted, but the point is — the point is — the point is that we want to keep people’s taxes low and increase revenues. And my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control. We spent money in a way that mortgaged our kids futures. My friends, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Now I don’t know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but the point is — but the point is it was $3 million of your money. It was your money.
“And you know, we laugh about it, but we cry and we should cry because the Congress is supposed to be careful stewards of your tax dollars. so what did they just do in the middle of an energy crisis when in California we are paying $4 a gallon for gas, went on vacation for five weeks. I guarantee you, two things they never miss, a pay raise and a vacation. And we should stop that and call them back and not raise your taxes. We should not and cannot raise taxes in tough economic times. So it doesn’t matter really what my definition of rich is because I don’t want to raise anybody’s taxes.”
Let's start with the first paragraph. First of all, when it comes to a national debate about the gap between rich and poor, I don't care if the wealthy are unhappy. Happiness is an inside job and yes, having all the money in the world won't make you happy, joyous and free, but robbing the poor to pay the upper echelons of society is just downright criminal. Secondly, keeping taxes low by giving tax breaks (to those that qualify) is basically a handout to the insurance companies that have been screwing us for decades now. We need a better system, not to feed the currently broken one.
Next paragraph. Um, wtf? Five million dollars is your line on who is rich or not? Maybe when you suck at the teet of a beer baroness, but for millions of Americans not living paycheck to paycheck would be a huge step up. Claiming that comment will get distorted? No, that came out crystal clear Senator. Now I agree that spending has run amok, but I could care less about a $3 million dollar study on bears, what makes me livid is wasting trillions.....TRILLIONS on a war in Iraq that nobody wants except for your friends in the defense industry (mercenaries too).
Third and final paragraph....hypocrite alert! Congress should be good stewards of our tax dollars, but guess what? McCain is in that Congress. Vacationing for five weeks (they've done this for a long time now, it is called a summer recess) is nothing compared to John McCain's almost non-existent voting record in the Senate this term. He doesn't show up for anything anymore. The state of Arizona has technically had one Senator and one that the country pays for (talk about a waste of taxpayer dollars) to not show up and pretend to be President while campaigning for the job.
John McCain had a lengthy answer about what it takes to be rich, but that response made double fudge cheesecake brownies taste like a sugar-free mousse.
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